The Lifestyles of Flight Crew Staff Members

Being part of a flight crew is a very rewarding career, but it comes with a price. Though the travel benefits are enormous, the lifestyle can be very challenging for some people. It calls for a lot of time spent uprooted in constantly changing scenery, separated from what most people call normal. This is on top of the profession itself being considerably challenging. If someone has a passionate desire to become part of a flight crew, they should certainly explore the option as it may appeal perfectly to certain kinds of people, but no one should rush head first into it without seriously considering what their life would look like as a flight crew member.

The work involved in being a flight attendant, co-pilot or pilot has very strict protocols that go along with it. A person setting out for a life of flying professionally has to undergo intensive training and many hours of education in order to be ready to do their job. Many people fall away from this profession in this phase, when they begin to understand what will be expected of them. Executing the job of flight crew member means being attentive, efficient, knowledgeable and able to handle unpredictable situations.

The lifestyle of a flight crew member is very uprooted. The job obviously involves traveling all over the nation or even all over the world, which can be disorienting and exhausting. Flight crew members become accustomed to living out of hotel rooms and arriving in new cities daily. Often, they barely even get a full night’s sleep before their work schedule requires them to be back on a plane doing their job. This separates flight crew members from what most people would call a normal lifestyle. The average job keeps a person in one location, where they can plant roots, build a support system and a social life, establish set routines and live a healthy lifestyle. Flight crew members do not have the option of maintaining this way of life, which means they need to be ready to be inventive and resourceful in order to take care of themselves.

Being part of a professional flight crew has immense appeal to many people for its travel lifestyle and its exhilarating environment. However, there are a great many drawbacks to taking this position as well. Being part of a professional flight crew can test you in personal and professional ways that no one can prepare you for, and not everyone is cut out for the challenge. Flight crew staff members can experience stress inside and outside of work because of the labor of their professional responsibilities. Before committing to a career as part of a flight crew, it is important to spend a great deal of time thinking on these drawbacks to understand if you are willing to live with them.

Being part of a flight crew can come with a grueling schedule and work that is sometimes highly stressful. Quality flight crew members are highly in demand for their set of skills and often get overworked because of it. Skies can be turbulent, passengers can be unpredictable and expectations can be high on flight crew staff members, which leads many of them to reevaluate their career choices.

Flight crew staff members frequently feel displaced because of how often they are traveling. Most flight crew staff members do not get to be at home for more than a few days in a month because they are staying at new hotels every night as they work their way around the globe during work periods. This can have negative psychological impacts on a person to be separated from their home and their support system for extended periods of time.

The ever present danger of being suspended in the sky outside of a natural human habitat is always a factor for flight crew professionals. Statistically, there is no greater danger of working as a flight crew member than there is of a vast number of jobs that are held on the earth’s surface, but the fear of falling out of the sky and crashing can heavily impact some flight crew members.

Because of all the aforementioned stress factors, mental instability, addiction and substance abuse hit flight crew professionals harder than many other working professionals. These positions demand workers of immovable mental stability.

Being a flight crew staff member is a highly rewarding position to assume. This may mean a position as a pilot, a co-pilot, a captain or a flight attendant. Some people are terrified at the thought of holding a job 30,000 feet off the ground while others are utterly intrigued by it. Being a flight crew staff member is certainly not for everyone, but those who are attracted to these types of positions are invaluable because the airline industry is in need of them. Different flight crew positions offer different rewards of course. Pilots carry a far heavier aviation responsibility than flight attendants do. But any flight crew position will offer similar kinds of lifestyle choices and rewards.

The compensation and benefits that are given to flight crew staff positions are a substantial living. A pilot’s salary will typically start at 45,000 but can reach up to 200,000 as they gain seniority. The average flight attendant makes approximately 40 to 45,000 per year. Benefits and pensions are sure to be included in their compensation. There has been some controversy among pilots about how minimal their initial salaries are as they are trying to pay off student debt, but on average, flight crew members are compensated fairly.

Flight crew staff members are skilled professionals who train for a considerable amount of time to assume the positions they take. Pilots, of course, go to school for the longest amounts of time to receive their pilot’s license and other certifications, while flight attendants receive training from the airline that hires them. Both are critical positions to aircraft operations and require the imparting of an education on the aviation professional prior to the execution of job duties.

The work and lifestyle that a flight crew staff member encounters are active and stimulating. One might say there is never a dull moment in the aviation industry. Being a flight crew member is very engaging, whether it involves the technical knowledge of the cockpit or the more customer oriented interactions in the cabin. There is always plenty to do and stay focused on.

Lastly, anyone with a taste for travel, adventure and rootlessness tends to be a good fit for a flight crew staff position. It is impossible to succeed at this position without room for wandering in your life, and it is more enjoyable for people who crave travel habitually.

Being a flight crew staff member can be a very rewarding career endeavor. It can satisfy your need to travel, see new places, move about, stay busy, operate large machinery and provide excellent customer service. However, this is not a career that should be considered lightly. Being part of a flight crew can also be very stressful. As we have seen from stories in the media, pilots, co-pilots and flight attendants can grow weary of the long hours, back to back shifts, time away from their homes and heavy expectations on them and snap. Flight crew members have a history of being deeply, psychologically effected by their work. Training to be a pilot, co-pilot or flight attendant is not for the faint of heart, but if you are stable and goal oriented with a taste for rootlessness, it could be the perfect position for you.

Pilots have a reputation for being the most respected flight crew staff members. This is because they have more flight training and experience than anyone else on board. They are responsible for the complex operations of the plane, as well as ultimately responsible for the safety of everyone on board. It can take anywhere from three months to three years to become certified as a pilot, but typically a commercial airline pilot will have years of training and experience under their belt before receiving their title.

Co-pilots are also certified as pilots, but they assume a secondary role when they are assigned the position of co-pilot on a flight crew. A co-pilot does not have as much responsibility as a pilot, but they do carry a similar amount. They are present to fly and land the plane should anything happen to the pilot, and they are meant to perform aviation tasks along with the pilot to manage the aircraft. Co-pilots are frequently less experienced than the pilot or in training, but sometimes a more experienced pilot will be assigned the position of co-pilot for a variety of reasons.

Flight Attendants are the flight crew staff members who the average person interacts with the most. They are the individuals who provide customer service and instructions to passengers for their safety and comfort. Despite the largely customer service oriented position they hold, they are actually trained in a number of technical duties to assist the pilot and co-pilot.

So much depends on an airplane’s flight crew when we fly. We rely on them to safely navigate the plane and operate its equipment, lead us in safety precautions and help us understand what to expect from high altitude flying and provide with us with customer service and accommodations during the duration of the flight. Flight crew staff members, such as pilots, co-pilots and flight attendants, have high profile jobs in some senses. They are routinely making the news for the decisions and actions they make, whether they are heroic or disastrous. Despite the interest we take in the flight crews who take care of us at 30,000 feet, there is a great deal we do not understand about who they are as people. Flight crew staff share a similar lifestyle due to the nature of flying for a living. This lifestyle is quite different from the average persons.

Flight crew staff members spend a great deal of time away from home, and can move daily for months on end in some circumstances. Most of us are aware that flight crew members have to be away from home a great deal, but seldom do we think about how much they are forced to travel and what effect this would have on a person. Flight crew staff are often given exhausting, packed work schedules on the order of fourteen hour work shifts. They are set up in a hotel room for the night, but often have a short night of sleep as they are scheduled for another long shift the following day. Flight crew staff members will often keep this kind of schedule for days or weeks at a time until they receive a certain amount of days off at home. This type of work schedule drastically effects a person’s lifestyle.

However, working as a flight crew staff member is not without its benefits. People who are drawn to adventure, travel and rootlessness do well as flight crew staff members. The job certainly allows a person to see new locations and sites all the time. Flight crew staff member jobs may suit a person’s love for manipulating technical machinery, or it may suit a person’s desire to be in customer service. The pay, benefits and pensions that flight crew staff members receive is also noteworthy.

When we board an airplane, many of us take for granted the kind of week that the flight crew on board have had. We consider traveling hard on ourselves as passengers, but the pilot, co-pilot and flight attendants operating the plane have more than likely faced many more challenges than ourselves prior to the flight. It is not uncommon for a flight crew staff member to regularly work overtime, pulling shifts as long as fourteen hours, sleep for less than eight hours in a hotel room, then get up to do it all over again the following day. Flight crew staff members have some of the most unpredictable schedules of any working professional, due to flight changes, delays and re-routes. The life of a flight crew staff member can be rewarding, but it can also be heavily demanding.

The airline industry has a massive work force, and there are many people who seek a career in aviation or in flight crew membership. The reasons for this are obvious. Working for an airline comes with many benefits, such as pensions, retirement plans and full medical coverage. The salary is decent and consistent. In addition, the lifestyle of a flight crew staff member greatly appeals to certain types of people who seek travel, adventure and a frequent change of locations. There is no denying that this type of position is perfect for certain personality types.

However, the rootlessness and long hours can also be very wearing on an employee. A position as a flight crew staff member calls for the employee to be constantly on their toes. Their work schedules, hours and destinations may change at a moment’s notice. They are frequently separated from their homes for a long duration of time, living out of hotel rooms. They may not even get a full night’s sleep between work shifts. This type of lifestyle leads many flight crew staff members to stress, anxiety, depression or a number of other hardships. Some are able to cope with these hardships, while others have breakdowns or develop a substance abuse disorder to cope. The most important thing a flight crew staff member can do for themselves is take care of their own health and assert their own demands if they are unable to properly care for themselves. If they are struggling with a serious mental condition, such as addiction, substance abuse or a mental disorder, they need to receive counseling and treatment at a top quality rehab.